Advice

We offer to make the submission on your behalf and liaise with planning officers throughout the process. There is no extra charge for our time during these two steps. When you call us or email for your free quotation, we can discuss the planning route and which fees your project would entail.

Your planning application could be for permission to change a shop or restaurant front. This fee would be comparatively small and would be absorbed within a change of use quotation. The latter would be from at £1,500+VAT for planning drawings for smaller premises. Do ring us to prepare a bespoke quotation for your consideration.

Conservation officers are more stringent, but we have planning and design expertise to match or tastefully contrast with the surroundings. We can win approval for a contemporary addition via similar hues and materials, a pleasing aesthetic blend and our 3D render service.

This request has come up from time to time and the last example was feasible partly because the office was set back off the main road. Also, there was no obstruction of light to neighbouring industrial units or issues with overlooking. Also, the design was in character with the existing storey and the massing was not overly bulky.

Whilst some changes of use class do not need planning permission, most do. A1 to A3 will need planning permission because it will require an extraction duct to be installed. This could affect neighbours, hence the application and installation will need to be monitored by council departments. We can also advise you which changes of use can be done under Permitted Development.

This is a good question and will depend on the area. It’s worth finding out what kind of use classes the area is lacking as these would be good contenders for approval. This will save money compared with a refusal and reapplication. For example, the area may need more retail or residential units. We can advise you about your particular borough policies when you call us.

Your change of use will not need planning permission but changes to the exterior shop front will. You might think that changing from a café to a restaurant will not need an application but a restaurant is different because the cooking facilities contain ovens which need more safety routes and better extraction systems. We can tell you the class use and what permissions you will need.

Even though a prospective buyer or leaseholder has to be aware of the timeline whilst submitting a planning application, it is good to get the ball rolling by contacting your commercial architect or planning consultant ahead of the lease date or purchase date. We can do a mini-feasibility study for you and that can help you decide whether to go ahead with the lease or choose another site.

We have some offline brochures which we distribute on visits and exhibitions. Also, we have several online portfolio examples on our website to show how some of our best commercial projects blended when those clients also instructed our branding service.

Corporate branding is often quoted as an entire package, but we try to save money for our clients by specifying only the products which interest them. Once we establish your wish list, we can cost all your items and then apply some discounts where possible.

We have a graphics team who work closely with our architectural designers to match your branding solution with their interior design for you. They are expert in web design & web hosting, and can even manage your newsletters.

We will look at your premises and your current corporate ID. We can work with what works if you are attached to the existing look. However, it may be a false economy to mix the old branding with a new shop front and interior. We can discuss these points in detail when we meet.

We can turn round concept design schemes in a matter of weeks. Once you are happy, we start the technical drawings for submission along with your 3D renders. If we are confident of approval, we can do building regs drawings – if needed – simultaneously to the planning process. We are picky about the efficiency and reliability of builders we are willing to refer for you, to avoid incurring delays.

We can forecast costs for you at the outset of your project, according to our experience of similar projects. We have a tender service which can accurately specify your materials. This will save you money because we have trade discounts, and the builders have to quote like for like. It puts you in control because they are paid in arrears.

We can save you money at the tender stage which brings down your build cost by 10-15%. Our Contract Admin. service puts you in the driving seat with builders, giving you peace of mind. We will create an outstanding design for you, which will be invaluable by adding substantial business for you. Do see our testimonials, or come and visit us.

Our architectural designers and senior architects are like wizards in their expertise of designing internal space. This includes small premises or small spaces within premises. We know the furniture and fittings which save space, e.g. cupboards with accordion doors, or sliding doors where clearance would be difficult with hinged doors.